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Tesla Volunteer Network

Like a lot of people on TMC, I am passionate about Tesla and its success. I'm not in a position to work for Tesla at this time, but I would still like to help out. I'm a M3 reservation holder and I want to see the vehicle get to production as soon as possible. I hold a Masters degree in Mechanical Eng. and I believe I could at least help out with some low priority drawings for them a few hours per week. I feel that I am not alone in this thinking. Would Tesla ever consider incorporating a volunteer network to help out?

Obviously there are drawbacks to this free labor - a potential for information getting leaked to the public, no deadlines, etc. Maybe it is not worth it for something interns can do, but if done correctly it might be an opportunity for Tesla to work with their passionate fan base and speed things up.

They are doing a lot of things. They have to do an 80/20 and deliver to meet the needs of 80 percent of the customers. This presents an opportunity.

One approach is to look for unmet needs consistent with employer capabilities. For example:

My employer has shipped over a million power converters that are ~96% efficient and have a demonstrated field reliability (MTBF) of 8 million hours. This capability can be lined up to deliver apartment friendly charging systems that are much more efficient than anything on the market today.

A working prototype, with a clear path to production, is something Tesla may be interested in. It grows their market, is consistent with sustainable transportation and let's them focus on other areas.

Another approach is to contribute developed ideas into the public domain. Publication is very time intensive, but SAE will provide a forum if you are adding to general knowledge. Submit an abstract and see if it is accepted. For example:

I spent a fraction of my annual vacation on a conceptual design for a battery electric midsize SUV that supports multi rider commutes and exception range through low aerodynamic drag. Some useful ideas and appreciations fell out:

1) An obsession with acoustics (53 dB ambient noise is needed if you want to include all 4 riders in the conversation)
2) An electric rear drivetrain coincident with an 800 mm wide cargo floor 300 mm above ground level are possible, if you want to roll in motorcycles and wheelchairs. (No hub motors are needed, but you have to work hard to keep the half shafts long enough to avoid noise issues).
3) An incredible simplification and acceleration of the passenger vehicle design process. If you locate every driver's eyes at an identical location, the car is better for everybody and you don't need adjustable mirrors or adjustable head up displays or a lot of other things. The passenger experience just gets a lot better than when the geometry between passengers is anchored by pedals at the firewall - but you have to have enough wheelbase to not double book the space behind the driver's seat.

So, you can do work and may strike out, or get a hit, by working with the process capabilities that your employer brings, or by working on personal time to address problems too far out in time for companies to fund.

Like a lot of people on TMC, I am passionate about Tesla and its success. I'm not in a position to work for Tesla at this time, but I would still like to help out. I'm a M3 reservation holder and I want to see the vehicle get to production as soon as possible. I hold a Masters degree in Mechanical Eng. and I believe I could at least help out with some low priority drawings for them a few hours per week. I feel that I am not alone in this thinking. Would Tesla ever consider incorporating a volunteer network to help out?

Obviously there are drawbacks to this free labor - a potential for information getting leaked to the public, no deadlines, etc. Maybe it is not worth it for something interns can do, but if done correctly it might be an opportunity for Tesla to work with their passionate fan base and speed things up.

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Volunteer work for a for profit organisation???
I think you will ruin the labour market by doing things other people can do while providing for their families. I think there are better ways to volunteer, like organising things for the local EV club, advocating to install charger at local level etc..

Volunteer work for a for profit organisation???
I think you will ruin the labour market by doing things other people can do while providing for their families. I think there are better ways to volunteer, like organising things for the local EV club, advocating to install charger at local level etc..

Click to expand...

I believe Tesla is already in the process of disrupting a lot of what for profit organizations do.

I'm not talking about displacing an entire engineering department, just a few hours per week. Ruining the labor market is a little dramatic.

Meta

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